As stated in production notes from AMPAS library files and a 16 May 1979 Var article, writer-producer Allan Carr had recently achieved box-office success with his 1978 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Grease (see entry) when he met the vastly-popular singing group Village People during the taping of a television performance. Knowing the group had a built-in audience of fans and that musical films were marketable, Carr came up with the original story of the picture, a fictionalized version of how the group was formed. According to Var, EMI Films and distributor Associated Film Distribution planned a 20 Jun 1980 release date for the picture before it went in production to “approximate” the 16 Jun 1978 release of Grease and the companies had already made "substantial bookings."
       A 28 Mar 1979 Var article referred to the film by its working title, The Music Never Ends, and stated that Grease screenwriter Bronte Woodard was hired to co-write the script with Bruce Vilanch. However, only Woodard and Carr are credited onscreen as writers. The 16 May 1979 Var article announced that actress Nancy Walker had been hired to make her directorial debut with the $10 million project, then titled Discoland... Where the Music Never Ends, and noted that principal photography was scheduled to begin 20 Aug 1979 in New York City and would continue for twelve weeks in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA. However, a 29 Aug 1979 HR news item reported that the project began filming the previous day, on 28 Aug 1979, with the new title Can’t Stop the Music. The name was reportedly changed to reflect the diverse musical styles included in the production and the filmmakers’ concerns about limiting its scope to the disco genre. A 30 Apr 1980 HR brief published after the production was complete listed the film’s cost at $20 million.
       Village People’s creators and managers, Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, joined Carr as producers of the film in the early stages of development. An unnamed music critic cited in a 9 Sep 1979 LAT article stated that Morali, who is loosely depicted in the film as “Jack Morell,” created Village People with the intention of composing “disco songs spoofing homosexual fantasies” and then packaging “the whole enterprise with plenty of nonthreatening, good cheer to Middle America.” However, Morali’s true story of discovering the Village People and guiding the group to multi-million dollar success was highly augmented in the film.
       On 18 Oct 1979, Rolling Stone reported that Olivia Newton-John was previously attached to the project, but Carr refused her demand of a $750,000 salary. A 2 Sep 1979 NYT article suggested that former Village People lead singer Victor Willis, as well as actresses Chita Rivera and Pat Ast, were not cast for similar reasons. While a 6 Jun 1979 DV news item announced the casting of Olive Behrendt, she is not credited onscreen. The film marked Olympic decathlon gold-medalist Bruce Jenner’s feature film debut.
       As stated in production notes, rehearsals began Jul 1979 in Los Angeles and later resumed mid-Aug 1979 in New York City. Locations in the film include Washington Square in Greenwich Village, Times Square and the United Nations Plaza. The 2 Sep 1979 NYT article reported that the production schedule had been reduced to eleven weeks, with two weeks in New York City, eight weeks on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) sound stages in Los Angeles, and one week in San Francisco, where a musical finale was planned on the Golden Gate Bridge. Production notes stated that the finale employed the first professional model of the Louma camera crane that could rotate 360 degrees by remote control. A prototype of the crane had been used on 1941 (1979, see entry).
       Nancy Walker told NYT that the scene in which actor Steve Guttenberg roller-skates into a Shriners Parade was an accident; the crew kept filming because no one in the parade complained. An 8 Nov 1979 HR article, which reported that the production was approaching its final evening of principal photography, noted that Village People singer David Hodo, who performed as the group’s “construction worker” character, broke his chin after falling twelve feet during a musical routine. He was treated by a plastic surgeon and returned to set the same day.
       Reviews were mixed. While the Jul 1980 Film Journal lauded the film as “jubilant entertainment, the 7 Jul 1980 Time labeled it a “harmless, weightless enterprise.”
      The following acknowledgments appear in the end credits: “Special Thanks to Greg Gorman and Jeff Mont” and “Filmed in New York, San Francisco, Hollywood, and MGM Studios.”